The Morning Line: Early Oscar Contenders

From British oddsmakers to awards bloggers, the current thinking on the nominations

ENLARGE

'War Horse'
Dream Works Pictures

Best Picture

"War Horse"* This film combines two of Steven Spielberg's strong suits: war films and interspecies friendships. The tear-jerking WWI equine epic is based on the hit play.

"The Help": A stirring performance by Viola Davis grounded this adaptation of a best-selling book about white employers and black domestic workers in segregated Mississippi; it was directed by the author's best friend.

"Midnight in Paris": Woody Allen's biggest hit with audiences and critics since "Annie Hall," which won best picture in 1977.

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"*

The story of a genius kid on a quest to find a lock that fits a key left behind by his 9/11-victim father may sound extremely depressing and incredibly corny, but don't bet against director Stephen Daldry, whose last two movies were nominated for best picture.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"*: Many critics thought director David Fincher was robbed last year when "The Social Network" lost a best-picture battle to "The King's Speech."

Gary Oldman, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy":The British actor plays a spy who comes out of retirement to uncover a Soviet mole amid an elite group of M6 officials.

Ryan Gosling, "The Ides of March": He emerged as a big star this year with this film, "Drive" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love."

Michael Fassbender, "Shame": There's a lot of full-frontal Fassbender in this film, but his role as a sex addict could remind voters of Frank Sinatra's Oscar-nominated portrayal of a heroin addict in "The Man With the Golden Arm."

George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Jean Dujardin, "The Artist": See related article.

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